Court Upholds 6-Month Sentence for Student Who Misappropriated Funds from Aunts

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com   

The High Appeals Criminal Court has upheld a six-month prison sentence and a 1,000 Bahraini dinar fine for a 20-year-old student convicted of misappropriating funds from his two aunts. The court found the student guilty of exploiting his aunts' vulnerability and transferring their money to his own account.

According to court records, the student was responsible for managing his aunts' finances due to their health conditions. In 2020, he took one of his aunts to the bank and, with the assistance of a bank employee, had her sign documents. In February 2023, when the aunts attempted to withdraw money, they were informed that the account of one aunt was empty.

The second aunt contacted the student, who apologised and pleaded with her not to file a complaint for the sake of his future. The bank also filed a complaint against the student, who initially claimed he would return the funds but failed to do so. He later alleged that the money was transferred with the first aunt's consent through the "Benefit" mobile payment programme. However, the first aunt confirmed she did not have a Benefit account and was not familiar with mobile banking.

The second aunt, a 61-year-old retiree, testified that in February 2023, she and her sister went to the bank to withdraw money and were shocked to discover her sister's account was empty. She confirmed that the transfers were made to the student's account and contacted him, demanding the return of the funds. Despite his initial promises, he delayed the repayment.

A bank official testified that the first aunt had reported unauthorised withdrawals from her account. Upon investigation, it was revealed that the funds were transferred to the student's account through the Benefit programme. The student's account was subsequently frozen.

Further investigation revealed that a new Benefit account was being registered monthly using the first aunt's phone number. Subsequently, her monthly social security payment was being transferred to the student's account.